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������ƵStats: Diseases Associated With Readmissions

Among patients diagnosed with a blood disease in 2020, 23.8 out of every 100 hospital stays resulted in a 30-day readmission, the highest rate of any diagnosis. Stays for neoplasms resulted in the second highest rate, with 19 readmissions for every 100 admissions. (Source: ������ƵHealthcare Cost and Utilization Project Statistical Brief #304, .) 

Today's Headlines:

• Chlorhexidine Bathing Routine Reduces Infections in Nursing Homes.
• ������ƵDirector Robert Otto Valdez Elected to National Academy of Medicine.
• ������ƵViews Blog: During National Primary Care Week, ������ƵCelebrates the Tradition of Primary Care Practices Delivering Whole-Person Care.
• American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Creates Perinatal Mental Health Clinical Practice Guidelines Using ������ƵResearch.
• Register Now for ������’s October 25 Software Developers Meeting.
• Highlights From ������’s Patient Safety Network.
• During Health Literacy Month, ������ƵHighlights Resources To Support Patient Involvement.
• ������Ƶin the Professional Literature.

Chlorhexidine Bathing Routine Reduces Infections in Nursing Homes

Nursing homes using a chlorhexidine bathing routine to clean the skin and nose with over-the-counter antiseptic solutions prevents serious infections and reduces the amount of antibiotic resistant organisms in the nursing home, such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), according to an AHRQ-funded study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Each year, 3 million healthcare-associated infections in U.S. nursing homes cause 150,000 hospital admissions and 350,000 deaths. Researchers found that in nursing homes using the bathing routine, known as decolonization, two residents per month avoided transfers to the hospital due to infections. These nursing homes also significantly reduced transfers to the hospital for other causes. Nursing homes that used decolonization also saw significant reduction in the overall prevalence of multidrug-resistant organisms including MRSA, vancomycin-resistant Enterococci, and other resistant bacteria. Access the and the ������Ƶpress release.

������ƵDirector Robert Otto Valdez Elected to National Academy of Medicine

Robert Otto Valdez, Ph.D., M.H.S.A., has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and recognized for service and leadership that “advanced our ability to measure and improve access, quality, and healthcare outcomes, especially for children and historically excluded communities.” Selected as ������’s director in February 2022, Dr. Valdez was previously the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Professor Emeritus of Family & Community Medicine and Economics at the University of New Mexico (UNM). Since coming to ������Ƶhe has overseen the launch of the Department of Health and Human Services’ National Action Alliance To Advance Patient Safety, guidance for healthcare organizations’ efforts to reduce their carbon footprints, and investments in expanding care for people with Long COVID. Learn more about Dr. Valdez and access the .

������ƵViews Blog: During National Primary Care Week, ������ƵCelebrates the Tradition of Primary Care Practices Delivering Whole-Person Care

������’s support for National Primary Care Week and the agency’s ongoing efforts to advance whole-person, patient-centered care are themes in a recent blog post by Tess Miller, Dr.PH., director of ������’s Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement. The agency embraces its growing leadership role in helping to advance primary care in an evolving healthcare landscape. At the center of ������’s endeavors is the National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research (NCEPCR), which supports primary care research while providing tools and resources to advance the healthcare quality. These and other resources align with the agency’s commitment to protect and advance primary care’s unique role as the foundation of a strong healthcare system. Access the blog post. To receive all blog posts, .

American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists Creates Perinatal Mental Health Clinical Practice Guidelines Using ������ƵResearch

A new ������ƵImpact Case Study describes how the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) relies on ������’s systematic reviews to inform guidelines for its member physicians advising best treatment practices. As one example, ACOG has released clinical practice guidelines on pregnancy and postpartum mental health conditions using ������’s 2021 systematic review, . According to recent , mental health conditions (including deaths from suicide and overdose/poisoning related to substance use disorders) are the leading cause of pregnancy-related death. Access the new Impact Case Study and additional Impact Case Studies about the use of ������Ƶresources.

Register Now for ������’s October 25 Software Developers Meeting

is open for a virtual software developers meeting on Oct. 25, from 2 to 3 p.m. ET to discuss implementation of the Common Formats for patient safety data collection. Agenda topics include discussion of a new Common Formats commenting tool and a presentation from the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society’s Electronic Health Record Association. Participation and discussion by meeting participants will be encouraged.

Highlights From ������’s Patient Safety Network

������’s highlights journal articles, books and tools related to patient safety. Articles featured this week include:

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Review additional new publications in PSNet’s or access recent in ������’s WebM&M (Morbidity and Mortality Rounds on the Web).

During Health Literacy Month, ������ƵHighlights Resources To Support Patient Involvement

During October, Health Literacy Month, ������Ƶhighlights tools and resources designed to get patients and their families more involved in their healthcare. Agency tools are available to increase patient and family engagement and help healthcare organizations, leaders and professionals improve health literacy. Spanish-language resources are also available. Access more information about ������’s overall effort to advance health literacy.

������Ƶin the Professional Literature

Effectiveness of an emergency department-based machine learning clinical decision support tool to prevent outpatient falls among older adults: protocol for a quasi-experimental study. Hekman DJ, Cochran AL, Maru AP, et al. JMIR Res Protoc 2023 Aug 3;12:e48128. Access the on PubMed®.

Evaluating the association between expanded coverage of direct-to-consumer telemedicine and downstream utilization and quality of care for urinary tract infections and sinusitis. Yu J, Huckfeldt PJ, Mink PJ, et al. Health Serv Res 2023 Oct;58(5):976-87. Epub 2023 Jan 31. Access the on PubMed®.

Application of participatory ergonomics to the dissemination of a quality improvement program for optimizing blood culture use. Xie A, Koontz DW, Colantuoni EA, et al. Jt Comm J Qual Patient Saf 2023 Oct;49(10):529-38. Epub 2023 Jun 10. Access the on PubMed®.

Relationship between in-hospital adverse events and hospital performance on 30-day all-cause mortality and readmission for patients with heart failure. Wang Y, Eldridge N, Metersky ML, et al. Circ Cardiovasc Qual Outcomes 2023 Jul;16(7):e009573. Epub 2023 Jul 18. Access the on PubMed®.

Postpartum home blood pressure monitoring: a systematic review. Steele DW, Adam GP, Saldanha IJ, et al. Obstet Gynecol 2023 Aug 1;142(2):285-95. Epub 2023 Jun 13. Access the on PubMed®.

Assessing equitable recruitment in a digital health trial for asthma. Plombon S, Rudin RS, Sulca Flores J, et al. Appl Clin Inform 2023 Aug;14(4):620-31. Epub 2023 May 10. Access the on PubMed®.

Risk factors for opioid-related adverse drug events among older adults after hospitalization for major orthopedic procedures. Herzig SJ, Anderson TS, Urman RD, et al. J Patient Saf 2023 Oct 1;19(6):379-85. Access the on PubMed®.

Predictors of delayed diagnosis of pediatric CNS tumors in the emergency department. Young AL, Monuteaux MC, Cooney TM, et al. Pediatr Emerg Care 2023 Aug;39(8):617-22. Epub 2023 Apr 21. Access the on PubMed®.